Effect of surface treatment on the biocompatibility of microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates

The biocompatibility of microbial polyesters polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) were evaluated in vitro. The mouse fibroblast cell line L929 was inoculated on films made of PHB, PHBHHx and their blends, polylactic acid (PLA) as control. It was found that the growth of the cells L929 was poor on PHB and PLA films. The viable cell number ranged from 8.8×102 to 1.8×104/cm2 only. Cell growth on the films made by blending PHB and PHBHHx showed a dramatic improvement. The viable cell number observed increased from 9.7×102 to 1.9×105 on a series of PHB/PHBHHx blended film in ratios of 0.9/0.1 : 0/1, respectively, indicating a much better biocompatibility in the blends contributed by PHBHHx. Biocompatibility was also strongly improved when these polymers were treated with lipases and NaOH, respectively. However, the effects of treatment were weakened when PHBHHx content increased in the blends. It was found that lipase treatment had more increased biocompatibility than NaOH. After the treatment biocompatibility of PHB was approximately the same as PLA, while PHBHHx and its dominant blends showed improved biocompatibility compared to PLA.